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Chapter Three
Chapter Three Toffee vaulted over Bixbite’s whip, which promptly and painfully made a loud CRACK!''Toffee’s face wrinkled up as she landed on the ground and shot a blunt arrow into Bixbite’s shoulder, successfully making it’s mark. ''Lullaby by Sigala was already pulsing through the stadium. Bixbite proceeded to flip around and sling the tail of her whip into the air, which successfully latched onto airborne Toffee’s left leg. With a quick motion, the brown-haired girl slammed to the ground, her cat ears pressing against her head and her tail sticking straight up. Clutching her stone tightly, Toffee took the advantage of being on the ground and used it as a chance to swing her leg in a quick kick, sweeping Bixbite off of her feet. Bixbite rebounded faster than before, her fist still clenched around her stone. Toffee leapt up from the ground and walked backwards as she proceeded to hit Bixbite with arrows, each third projectile missing and landing in the pit below the brawling duo. Bixbite snapped the whip forwards and wrapped it around Toffee’s wrist, her right hand immobile. That was also the hand that held Toffee’s light pink stone. Toffee’s increasing heartbeat was on the verge of being audible, her eyes growing wider as Bixbite lunged towards her with a triumphant smile. But this isn’t where Toffee stopped fighting. Pressed up against the edge of the arena, Toffee’s expression changed from fright to fury as she leaped up and drove her heels into Bixbite’s gut, causing Bixbite to lose her grip on her weapon… …And her stone. The small trinket clattered to the floor and the arena’s noise suddenly hushed. “TOFFEE WINS!” The announcer cried, and the audience exploded with cheers. Toffee beamed with joy as the spotlight directed to her, and she turned around quickly and extended her arm to Bixbite. “Good job, Bixy,” she grinned as she extended a hand. Bixbite gladly took it, but her expression faltered after a second. “Wait…did you just call me ‘Bixy’?” she asked with rising suspicion. Toffee was a bit shocked at the question, but nodded anyways. “Y..yeah! I did…I heard Riri calling you that and I figured…” Bixbite stared coldly at Toffee, her grip on her opponent’s hand suddenly tighter.. “No one calls me Bixy unless you are super-duper, extra-über close to me. I am close to Riri, but I don’t think we’ve met until this very fight.” Toffee let go immediately in shock. “Oh! I’m..uh, I’m so sorry.” Bixbite shrugged, retaining her cold front as she collected her whip and left on the left side of the building, leaving Toffee clutching her crossbow on the stage. Something, however, caught the lone fighter’s eye. A slip of paper had fallen out of Bixbite’s pocket. Meet me at the front gates at 5 pm. Bring no one. Are these instructions for me? Toffee thought to herself, but shrugged. “No harm in going, I guess…?” “Uh, Toffee?” The announcer said, voice rising in the end. “You can, you can get off the stage now. We have more matches scheduled.” Toffee snapped back to reality and nodded before leaping off and out the exit. “Sorry!!!” '' ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~'' The smell of smoke fills the arena. “FIRE!” someone cries out, their screams frantic. The firefighters for the stadium arrive immediately. “Unfortunately, all battles for the rest of the day have been rescheduled to tomorrow. We apologize for the technical difficulties. Lighting for the show has supposedly been sabotaged, and is unsafe to use or perform with. Again, we apologize and hope this doesn’t affect your attendance tomorrow.” '' ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~'' The clock upon the front of the Rhythm Access stadium glowed “4:55” in bright pink letters. Toffee had her crossbow slung over her knees, sitting in a criss-cross manner with her pastel hoodie’s back pressing against the stone-like wall. Her tail flicked back and forth, her earbuds lodged in her pressed-down cat ears, playing a lo-fi track. The lighting was slowly growing dimmer out, to simulate being above ground again. For the time and place, the roads were completely SWARMED with fans, all dressed in outfits as ostentatious or dull as they pleased. Hyperactive teenager girls in bright neons, what seemed to be a gang-esque mob of ten year olds, and elderly folk dressed in soft pastels all walked about, enjoying the day it was. Bixbite, with her hair loose and her turtleneck sleeves slightly rolled up, approached Toffee with a calm sense. “I see you got the paper slip. I wasn’t sure if that was gonna work, honestly.” Toffee looked up at Bixbite and nodded. “I don’t know how I saw it, being so distracted. I already claimed the money from the tournament, so… What do you want?” Bixbite looked out at the road. “He’ll be here any second now…” As if she was expecting someone, Bixbite fiddled with her favorite magenta bracelet. Surely enough, a lanky teenager strolls down the street, looking rather unamused with the bustling crowds of people filling the street. His dark blue trenchcoat had a white clock with roman numerals upon it, and he purposely fixed his bangs to hang over his right eye. His entire outfit was made out of dark colors: he wore a dark blue turtleneck, dark gray slacks, and the black dress shoes he wore made subtle noises upon the pavement. Clack, clack, clack. “Time,” Bixbite called out. The boy looked up and strolled over, looking slightly unamused. “Who is she?” he said, with concern evident in his voice. “I told you, we don’t take new people right away. The amount of bribery you did to get Nyx in was stunning, alongside the bizarre fact that it worked.” Bixbite sighed. “Look, she’s a good fighter and I think she’d enjoy a place to train with other fighters who are skilled. Can she come this once, and if she messes stuff up, we’ll kick her out?” Time sighed. “I suppose.” He spun on his heel and motioned for the two to follow, which they promptly did so. '' ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~'' The group travelled without a sound for the larger duration of the walk, Toffee with her earbuds in, Bixbite looking at the scenery around her, and Time walking in his standard, hunched position. After a rather large, uncomfortable duration of silence, Time gave in and asked a simple question. “What’s the girl’s name?” Toffee’s eyes snapped open and she jogged up to match Time’s pace. “My name is Toffee Hartjoy!” Time looked at Toffee with an eyebrow raised in amusement. “I wasn’t asking you, I was asking Bixbite.” Bixbite, however, seemed to be lost in her own thoughts. Dazing out into space, she continued to tap her fingers on her thigh. Time sighed. “Well, I suppose an answer from you is good enough. Ah, we’re here.” Time approached a run-down building, square and…not all that good looking, to be honest. The metal was rusted, the door looked abandoned, and there was a broken, overgrown, plastic chair sitting outside. With a cool expression, Time approached and rapped on the steel door, Bixbite and Toffee standing directly behind him. The small window slid open quickly, revealing almond-shaped, dark brown eyes. Time patted his pocket before pulling out a wristband, showing it to the face peering out below. The window shut and Time swept his black bangs in his eyes for the sixth time, listening to the several locks on the door become undone. The door slowly creaked open, revealing a girl with wavy red hair dyed white at the tips, completely dressed in grays and blacks. Her hoodie sleeves fell over her hands comfortably. The group was silent for a moment before the girl started out a sentence. "...Time, you could've just said it was you.” Time sighed and nodded. "Yeah, I know. I'm sorry, Necro. Can we come in? I brought Bixbite and this new girl” — he hushed his voice — “but I don’t really…trust her.” Toffee voiced her disapproval of his soft comment, but Bixbite shot a glare so cold that she shut up immediately. Necro nodded. “…yeah, okay. Make yourself at home. Everyone's in the back.” Bixbite and Toffee started after Time, who lead the way down the stairs, but Toffee held back for a second. "Hey, are you okay?” she asked Necro with a concerned smile. Necro nodded, her sad facade lightening. "Yeah, yeah. Sorry. I'm not like this usually, I swear! Time and I have had some history, is all.” Toffee’s eyes widened. “As in, dating history?” Necro stared Toffee straight in the eyes and said, “No. Llama history. Of course, dating history!” Toffee cringed, shrinking back a bit. “Oof…sorry. Uh, should I go in the back?” Necro nodded. “Yeah, come on. Aren’t you friends with that Riri girl?” “Yeah? Why?” “She’s training in the back, you could go watch her if you wanted.” Toffee knitted her brows together. “Riri is here?” she said to herself, walking down the staircase and dropping her jaw at the sight that welcomed her immediately.